Wow, Azamara is definitely my new favorite cruise line! Their incredible itineraries are exactly what cruising is all about for me. While there are some over the top ships out there that focus more on the vessel than the destination, I'm all about the destinations! So when I discovered a Scotland intensive cruise with Azamara, I knew right away that this was the one for me!
Even though every stop on this cruise was in Scotland we actually started in Southampton and ended in Dublin. That is because Azamara does not repeat itineraries so the cruise before was one that ended in Southampton and the one after started in Dublin. This was my first time sailing out of Southampton and I was eager to check out this port since many cruises use it. I flew into London as most people probably would for a cruise starting in Southampton. While it was great that I could take a non-stop flight to London it was almost a 2 hour ride to Southampton. I arrived the day prior and explored Southampton a bit. It is definitely worth checking out and there was plenty to do and see for a day to 2. There are a few different terminals and they are spread out a bit so I was glad to find that my ship was docked within easy walking distance from the hotel I chose. It looked like maybe the bigger ships like Princess needed to be at the terminal a little further away but it would be an easy uber ride to get to. I did see some people walking to the terminal Princess was at from my hotel but you would have to pack light to do that.
Day 1 - Sea Day
After leaving Southampton we had just 1 sea day before we arrived in Scotland. I like having a sea day first since it gives me time to recover from traveling to the ship and also gives me time to explore the ship. Azamara Onward is a small ship but still has plenty to check out and enjoy to keep me busy all day.
Day 2 - Edinburgh (Leith)
This was my 3rd visit to Edinburgh and I was so excited to get another overnight stay! Azamara offers more overnight stays in ports than any other cruise line. Edinburgh is definitely one of my most favorite cities and we had perfect weather for exploring. As a small ship Azamara gets a nice location for visiting Edinburgh. While I really enjoyed South Queensferry last year for my Edinburgh stop on Holland America it was just nice to be docked and very easy access to the city this time around. The day started out interesting though because the tides were not right for our ship to get to the dock so we started the morning using tenders to get to land and later in the afternoon when the tide was right the ship moved through the lock and docked. I had a whole day planned already for Edinburgh so I knew I was getting off in the morning and would just find the ship at the dock later that day when I returned. There was no need to be back on the ship for the move but I know some guests were a bit confused. Since I had been to Edinburgh before and saw the main things on those prior visits I knew there were a few things I wanted to do this visit. I had found a Harris and Tweed purse building class offered in the city that I signed up for well in advance and was glad I did that early since it filled up so fast. I also decided on something else I wanted to do sort of last minute. I know it might sound a bit crazy but I decided I wanted a more permanent souvenir from one of my favorite places so I got a tattoo. I have been wanting to get a tattoo for awhile so I figured why not have one with even more meaning. I found a studio that took walk ins and I popped in there before going to my purse making class. They had an opening for a couple hours later so I made my purse and then went back to the studio. I am so happy with both of my souvenirs! I spent the rest of the day wandering around the city and enjoyed the sunshine and all the fun stuff going on. I then hopped on the tram and headed back towards where the ship would be docked. It was very easy to find the ship.
Tonight was the AzAmazing Evening event. Every Azamara cruise will have an AzAmazing event. It will be an exclusive event that every guest can enjoy and is included in your cruise fare. Sometimes you will go to a location to enjoy the event and other times they bring the event onboard. This was one of the times they brought the event to the ship. We were treated to a wonderful performance from the Red Hot Chili Pipers (yes I did overhear some guests that read it wrong and actually thought it said Peppers). They were a great band and felt very Scottish which got us all in the mood for the rest of our stops to come.
Day 2 - Edinburgh (Leith)
We had another whole day in Edinburgh. Today I was hosting the excursion for my group. We had a wonderful day trip that took us out of the city and out to the Scottish borders. We got to see Melrose Abbey where the heart of Robert the Bruce is said to be buried. I learned that it was Robert the Bruce that the name Braveheart came from, not William Wallace. We did learn a lot about both of those important men from Scotland's history though. We drove through some amazing views on our way to a great lunch stop and then headed to Rosslyn Chapel for our next stop. If you read the Da Vinci Code you would know some stuff about this chapel. It was another amazing day!
Day 3 - Dundee
Today's stop was a new one for me and also a new one for Azamara. I will be honest and admit I hadn't heard of Dundee before. I always love getting to explore ports that are new to welcoming cruisers though. It was another sunny day so I opted to walk around and explore town on my own. This was shorter stop so not really a whole day. We were not too far from Edinburgh but closer to St Andrews which was a big draw from the golf lovers onboard (I learned about another thing Azamara offers which is golf themed cruises). If any of you are golf fans and want to know more about these cruises let me know. Dundee is putting a lot of money into their waterfront to attract more cruises and other tourists too. There is a brand new beautiful museum called the Victoria and Albert Museum. It was a very cool looking building right on the waterfront and bonus it offers free admission. I popped in and checked that out for a bit. There are also plenty of other things to explore in town.
Day 4 - Invergordon
This is the port for visiting places like Inverness. I stopped in this port last year so I already knew that there really isn't anything to do close to the port so you do really need an excursion. Another option would be to take public transportation into Inverness and explore there for the day. Most ships spend a long day at this stop since it is a bit of a ride to get to Inverness and other things to see. I opted to do an excursion so I could try out the local company for future reference. While I had been to Loch Ness and Inverness on my first visit to Scotland I decided to go back again since it had been awhile and those are the main things to do from this port. This tour also included a Distillery tour and a stop to see some Highland Coos. I will admit the coos were more of a draw for me than the Whisky but it was cool to learn more about Whisky making.
Tonight was another one of Azamara's special events - White Night. They really go all out and the buffet they put out on the pool deck reminded me of the way cruising used to be. It was great to see that just about every guest came out for the event and almost everyone had some bit of white on even if some of them were wearing the white robes from the room. It was a bit chilly so the robes actually were kind of a good idea. Along with all the food and entertainment on the pool deck the real highlight was the crew parade. I mentioned last week that I think the crew on Azamara is the best I have had on any cruise line and it was so nice to get to see them come out and be acknowledged.
Day 5 - Kirkwall
Today we were all the way up in the Orkney Islands. I had not stopped here before and was excited to check it out since many ships call on this stop now. We were small enough to be able to dock here but saw the Holland America ship that was also in port that day had to use tenders. There was a summer festival going on in town so it was great to be able to check out some of the craft vendors that were set up for that. I love getting to bring home some handmade local items from my trips. I picked up some locally spun yarn and got to talk to the sister of the lady that had spun it so I learned a bit more about the yarn which was so nice. I also talked with a few of the artists and they were all very talented. I bought a glass dish in which the artist incorporated sand and seaweed from the island into the glass to make a cool design. After wandering town I walked out to the nearest beach. It was an easy walk but but it was almost 2 miles. I like exploring on foot when possible though. The weather was turning a bit more Scottish than our past few days so it wasn't exactly a good beach day but I enjoyed wandering the beach for a bit before heading back to the ship.
Day 6 - Stornoway
We are now on the West side of Scotland and stopping at one of the islands that are part of the Outer Hebrides. Stornoway is on the Isle of Lewis and Harris - which if you remember my purse making I mentioned Harris Tweed and this is where it comes from. I had a wildlife boat tour booked for today but it was cancelled due to the weather that had rolled in. That same weather had made for a bit of a bumpy night last night so I wasn't too surprised when I heard my tour was cancelled. This is another stop that seems to be wanting to attract more ships as they have a brand new looking port area. It did require a shuttle to get into town. There is also a walking path but it was a longer walk than I wanted to do based on the windy and rainy day we had. Once in town it was a short walk up to a castle that was nice to explore the grounds. After that I walked back into town to check out the Harris Tweed building. They offered tours and demonstrations of how they made the tweed but I had just missed the start of one and wasn't up for waiting around for the next one. I did some shopping and headed back to the ship to warm up and dry off.
Day 7 - Oban
Today's stop was another new one for me. Unfortunately it was a tender port and the weather still wasn't too great so at first it was iffy if we would be able to actually run tenders. The captain was able to find a decent location and we were able to get to shore. I hadn't really made any plans for this stop so I just wandered around a little. I found a nice walking path to explore. If it had been nicer weather this would have been a good stop for going out on a small boat looking for wildlife. The tender ride back to the ship was a bit scary but everyone made it safely back to the ship even though some were delayed. I had a special dinner invitation tonight and was asked to join the table hosted by the Hotel Director. I was honored to be invited and enjoyed an interesting meal getting to meet a guest that had been onboard for 177 days straight. She had been on for the World Cruise Azamara did that started back in January and stayed on for 2 more cruises after that ended. Knowing that someone enjoyed cruising Azamara so much she would go solo and be on for that many days was more proof that Azamara really is that good.
Day 8 - Glasgow (Greenock)
This was another overnight stop. While this stop might be called Glasgow we were not actually in the city but at a smaller town just outside the city. It was easy to get into Glasgow though and being overnight made it even easier. I had booked a boat tour over to Holy Loch. My dad had been stationed at the Navy Base in Holy Loch so I was glad to find a tour that took guests in there. It was a chilly day but the sun was trying to peek out so I was a bit cold out on the small boat but it was still a nice tour.
Since we were overnighting here it was another opportunity for Azamara to bring some special entertainment onboard for us. The show was supposed to happen out on the pool deck so they had set up all the tables and had another huge buffet outside again - this time the focus was local food. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and while most of us were able to enjoy eating outside as it got closer to show time it started to rain so the show portion was moved inside to the Cabaret Lounge. It was a great performance of highland dance and music and such a nice way to cap off this cruise all around Scotland.
Day 9 - Glasgow (Greenock)
We still had half a day in port so I got off to walk around a bit. It was Sunday though so not much was open but the weather was really nice again so it was good for walking around. Then it was back onboard to start packing up.
Day 10 - Dublin
This was the end of my cruise but many guests had booked back to back cruises and were staying onboard for next one which took them up to Norway. I had even met a couple onboard that were only booked for the Scotland cruise but after being onboard a few days and hearing where the ship was going next they decided to extend their trip and book to stay onboard for another cruise. Unfortunately I couldn't do that so it was off to the airport for me. Another benefit of small ship cruising is that disembarkation is fairly quick and easy.
I really enjoyed this cruise and am already looking to sail on Azamara again soon.
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